For more than a decade no country has produced more champion surfers than Brazil. This is a fact. The last six consecutive World Titles. Dozens of ‘CT wins. And little sign of slowing down.
Brazilians will tell you, the country's success in surfing came at an opportune time, culturally. After the Brazilian Team lost to Germany 7-1 at the World Cup in 2014, Brazilians were hungry for heroes, and a pack of driven, ungodly talented new faces from all over the country were there to fill the void. Over the last decade, Adriano de Souza, Filipe Toledo, Gabriel Medina, Silvana Lima, Yago Dora, Wiggolly Dantas, Italo Ferreira, Miguel Pupo and Samuel Pupo, Caio Ibelli, Joao Chianca and others rose through the ranks, almost all eventually earning spots on the World Champion Tour.
In a matter of just a few years, Brazilian surfers on the ‘CT outnumbered any other country.
The Brazilian Storm celebrating Filipe Toledo's victory at the 2021 Jeep Surf Ranch Pro presented by Adobe. - WSL / Tony Heff
As the rest of the surf world tried to understand how the sport's international demographics had been so quickly and suddenly turned on its head, anyone who had been paying attention recognized some of many of these new names. A handful of them-Yago Dora, the Pupos, Filipe Toledo, the Chiancas-were the children of Brazilian National Champions. The rest of them had put in impossibly mature junior performances at events like the Quicksilver King of the Groms.
Termed "The Brazilian Storm" in 2011, the group demonstrated a communal comradery, and strength in numbers approach on tour, at a time when most surfers from Australia and the US traveled as lone wolfs. The Brazilians rose together, and for the last six years have won every World Title on the men's side, consecutively.
Surfing for Gold on this year's Brazilian National team are six absolute contenders.
On the men's side, 3x World Champion and 2x Teahupo'o winner Gabriel Medina; 2x defending World Champion Filipe Toledo; and Saquarema's slab savant Joao Chianca.
Filipe Toledo won back-to-back World Titles in '22 and '23 - WSL / Brady Lawrence
Filipe Toledo has long been widely regarded as "the fastest surfer in the world"-a title first given to Rob Machado. The son of two-time Brazilian national surfer Ricardo Toledo, Filipe learned to surf in Ubatuba, just north of Sao Paolo.
After qualifying for the World Tour in 2013, Filipe has gone on to win 17 major ‘CT events, including back-to-back World Championships at the Rip Curl WSL Finals in 2022 and 2023 at Lower Trestles, in his second home, San Clemente, where Filipe his wife, kids and family have lived for more than a decade.
Known as for his technical, explosive performances at waves like Jeffreys Bay, Snapper Rocks, and his backyard at Lower Trestles, Filipe took this year off tour, potentially to prepare mentally and physically for Teahupo'o this summer.
Joao Chianca has never backed down from charging waves of consequence. - WSL / Tony Heff
The Pride of Saquarema, and the rising star of one of Brazilian surfing's royal families, Joao Chianca, aka Chumbinho, burst onto the scene in 2019. Along with his childhood best friends, Samuel Pupo and Mateus Herdy, Joao is part of the Brazilian Storm's second wind.
Chumbinho first made a name for himself his first winter on the North Shore as part of the iconic Volcom Team. Waking up at Pipeline everyday, you could watch Joao's progression daily.
Joao and his older brother Lucas, who happens to be one of the most respected XXL hellman and slab hunters on the planet, put in plenty of time at Teahupo'o the last few years, experience that might pay dividends for the 23-year-old
While Gabe was always going to be a technical genius in small waves, his fearlessness and precision at some of the tour's heaviest waves like Teahupo'o or Pipeline is the result of relentless work to get better, stronger, and more comfortable in waves of consequence. - WSL / Ed Sloane
Gabriel Medina was always going to be a technical aerial genius, his fearlessness and precision at some of the tour's heaviest waves like Teahupo'o or Pipeline is what has always set him apart.
Gabe won the Tahiti Pro for the first time in 2014, at 21, against Kelly Slater, the winningest surfer ever at Teahupo'o. The win established Gabe as one of his generation's most gifted all conditions surfers, and smoothly paved the way to his first World Title that year.
The 3x WSL World Champion has been a perennially consistent standout at Teahupo'o, making the final in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2023, and winning the event again in 2018.
Tati turned it up a notch at the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro presented by Outerknown by charging, scoring a perfect 10 and pushing the boundaries of wormen's surfing. - WSL / Matt Dunbar
On the women's side, last year's World Title runner-up, Tatiana Weston-Webb, one of the most experienced and seasoned female surfers at Teahupo'o; Brazilian-American Luana Silva, who was born in Hawaii and brings that island style and comfort in heavy waves to her first Olympic Games; and current WSL South American Champion Taina Hinckel. While Luana and Taina are relative newcomers on the international scene, Weston-Webb is a Teahupo'o veteran at this point.
Famously, Tatiana Weston-Webb was already getting barreled at places like Pipeline in utero, riding in her mother, professional bodyboarder Tanira Guimaraes' belly.
Born in Brazil, but moving to Hawaii at just a couple months old, Tatiana grew up in one of surfing's most underground fertile crescents, her surfing shaped by the same waves that molded some of the most well-rounded surfers on earth: Keala Kennelly, Dustin Barca, Andy Irons and Bruce Irons just to name a few.
Tatiana has earned a reputation as one of the most consistent, steely-nerved, powerful surfers on tour. An adopted member of the Brazilian Storm and now married to longtime beau, Sao Paolo's Jesse Mendes, Tatiana made a point of putting in time at places like Pipeline and Teahupo'o years before the locations were officially added to the Women's ‘CT.
Qualifying for the ‘CT in 2015, Tatiana has won events at venues as diverse as J-Bay, Margaret River, Peniche, and the U.S Open of Surfing, finishing runner-up in a ridiculously right battle for the World Title against Carissa Moore at the 2021 Rip Curl WSL Finals.
As we've noted, this year a special addition to the rules allowed for competing Nations to qualify an extra male and female surfer, if that Nation's team won the 2022 or 2024 ISA Games. With Brazil taking out both events, they now have a radical advantage over competitor countries, with six instead of four surfers battling for medals.
Learn more about Teahupo'o here.
Head to the International Surfing Association (ISA) for more information on surfing in the Olympics.